With the end of Star Trek: Voyager in 2001 and the flop of Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002, the canonical Star Trek franchise changed its focus from the 24th century back to the 22nd and, ultimately, 23rd centuries. The upshot was that the bleeding edge of the Star Trek mythos was completely abandoned...with, for the first time in decades, absolutely no new developments planned on the horizon.

All of this culminated in late 2008 with Star Trek: Destiny, an epic novel trilogy by David Mack, detailing the final war between The Federation and the Borg Collective. After suffering one defeat after another at the hands of Starfleet, the Borg have finally decided to cut their losses and wipe out Humanity once and for all. To this end, they send an armada to the Alpha Quadrant using a network of interstellar tunnels, left behind by a Sufficiently Advanced Alien race. Things look bleak for Starfleet, but the wreck of a ship, lost mysteriously centuries earlier, may hold the secret to the Federation's survival.

The story is spread out over three novels (Gods of Night,Mere Mortals and Lost Souls). It fundamentally changes the Star Trek universe, and is well worth the read.

While it has been generally well-received, it should be cautioned that, as with all developments in the Star Trek franchise, opinions will differ. Major spoilers are found below.

Tropes seen in Star Trek: Destiny include:

Actual Pacifist: The Caeliar. They would rather die in the millions than harm another being, or even allow harm to come to others if they can prevent it. When the human characters they're holding captive rebel, they're convinced to co-operate when a human shoots his own colleague.

Alien Arts Are Appreciated: Former President Zife, a Bolian, greatly admired Monet's Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lillies. He left the painting in a prominent position in the Presidental wardroom, considering it a symbol of all the art and culture of the Federation, which he was intent on preserving.

All-Powerful Bystander: The Caeliar. Not literally all-powerful, but incredibly advanced technologically, and capable of resolving the Borg threat relatively simply. However, their culture is stagnant, xenophobic and isolationist in the extreme, apathetic about the wider galaxy. It takes Erika Hernandez to pull them off the sidelines, after first rediscovering her own humanity.

Alone in a Crowd: A very effective example in Mere Mortals, with Erika Hernandez among the Caeliar. The scene leads into Hernandez' attempted suicide.

And I Must Scream: In general, the fate of those poor souls who run afoul of the Borg. Also, what happens to Hernandez's three remaining crew members when faced with spending their whole lives imprisoned with the Caeliar, with absolutely nothing to do and no one to talk to (not even themselves). Fletcher handles it somewhat better than the other two.

Back for the Dead: T'lana, who had been written out of the series she appeared in shortly before Destiny, and Charivretha zh'Thane, who hadn't been seen for some time (and several years earlier in-universe).

Blood on the Debate Floor: When President Bacco calls the ambassadors from the major galactic powers together, Klingon ambassador K'mtok and Romulan ambassador Kalavak end up fighting. After a series of accusations and insults regarding events in prior novels (particularly in Star Trek: Articles of the Federation), the two begin to physically scuffle, until separated by Federation security.

Can't Argue with Elves: The Caeliar, who have evolved almost completely beyond the need for physical bodies, have no crime, poverty, or want, and are devoted completely to artistic and scientific pursuits. They have just enough respect for others' beliefs to not try to convince other races that the Caeliar's way is correct, but no amount of cajoling will convince them that the Caeliar's way is wrong. They are severely isolationist, but are Actual Pacifists, which leads various characters who stumble upon their home planet to become permanent "guests". Not a bad place to be, all things considered, but don't argue too much. Make too much noise or disrupt their work and the Caeliar will teleport you to a nice uninhabited planet a few billion light years away, just to make sure you never get home with information about them.

Cowardly Lion: Like most Ferengi, Ambassador Derro is a mass of nerves around the more aggressive races...but when it's time to string them along with his fine grasp of commerce, he shows great cunning and confidence. Reluctant to commit to an alliance with the Federation, he comes through for President Bacco by hiring the Breen as mercenaries, adding them to Bacco's coalition while depriving the Tholians of a potential ally.

Curb-Stomp Battle: The Borg versus anything, but particularly the Battle of the Azure Nebula. A combined fleet of 10 major powers is destroyed without doing any appreciable damage to the invading Borg Armada.

Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: The Borg, obviously. However, one scene in particular is notable. Star Trek: Titan character Torvig Bu-kar-nguv is from a race of non-humanoid cyborgs (Choblik), who owe their intelligence and civilization to their implants, being a race of Uplifted Animal. In previous novels, Torvig initially had difficulty comprehending the full horror of the Borg Collective. Now, though, the implications finally hit him, and he ends up perhaps the most horrified of all; this trope, and thus the Borg, are essentially the anti-Choblik, their most primal horror. He makes his friend Ranul Keru promise that he won't let Torvig be taken by Borg.

Darkest Hour: The Borg invasion is a weighty contender for the darkest hour of the entire Star Trek franchise.

Despair Event Horizon: Picard crosses this when his decision to finally start a family with Beverly Crusher coincides with the Borg launching what looks to be a final, all-out attack on the Federation - a war that by conventional means can only be won by the Borg.

Discontinuity Nod: while the events of Before Dishonor remain in (novel) continuity, various characters in this trilogy make a point of noting that it was only the one prototypical Borg cube which possessed the absorptive capability that allowed it to EATPLUTO!

Divided We Fall: Averted. Martok's nemesis Councillor Kopek agrees this is no time for politics. When Martok, leading the Klingon fleet, calls Kopek back on Qo'noS to warn him of impending Borg attack, Kopek assures Martok his throne will be waiting for him upon his return. Martok replies "with you sitting in it, I imagine?" However, Kopek for once isn't planning anything, and says so. It's the first time the character has been presented as anything other than a selfish monster; he understands the severity of the situation. He also dies defending Qo'noS, so possibly Redemption Equals Death.

Dying Race: The Caeliar lost the ability to reproduce when they advanced to their current form. They didn't think it would be a problem, but when 98% of their people are lost in an Earth-Shattering Kaboom, it eventually forces a reexamination of their cultural ideals.

Earn Your Happy Ending: While far from completely happy (see Pyrrhic Victory) there is nonetheless a great sense of relief knowing that the war is over, and the Borg will never be able to hurt anyone again.

Godzilla Threshold: The situation gets so bad that Starfleet seriously considers holding the Borg off with thalaron weapons and evacuating the Federation's population to another galaxy. In fact, Seven of Nine coldly deduces that the Federation cannot hope to win, and must embrace such desperate tactics to survive at all.

Gondor Calls for Aid: Subverted. President Bacco does indeed call for aid from all other powers in the Alpha and Beta quadrants, but their response is tepid and the combined fleet is annihilated within minutes anyway. All that her efforts really accomplish is to antagonize the Tholians.

Heroic Sacrifice: Many. Among the more notable examples: The crew of the Imperial Romulan Warbird Verithrax, who destroyed themselves saving planet Ardana from destruction, Captain Pachal and the crew of Ranger, using their ship as a missile to take out a Borg cube menacing Khitomer, and six million Caeliar to save their human “guests” during the destruction of Erigol.

Lt. Lonnoc Kedair's attempt to do this fails, but she's still freakin' awesome anyway.

Hidden Elf Village: Erigol, the Caeliar homeworld. After the switch to New Erigol, they keep to the tradition, rejecting contact with the outside galaxy and hoping to keep their world concealed.

Hired Guns: President Bacco outmanoeuvres the Tholians by having the Ferengi hire the Breen as mercenaries in the conflict against the Borg, denying the Tholians the opportunity to ally with the Breen and harass Federation holdings while adding the Breen to the allied effort in the Azure Nebula. Orion mercenaries are also hired.

Hive Mind: Star Trek: Destiny presents two different versions; the nightmarish, all-consuming collective of the Borg and the vastly more benign "Gestalt" of the Caeliar. The one is derived from the other.

Ironic Echo: The little speech pointing out that "Caeliar" is both noun and adjective. Given to Erika Hernandez by Inyx after Hernandez arrives at Erigol, it is later given to the visiting crew of Titan. Hernandez and Inyx share a quick amused glance.

Kill All Humans: The new goal of the Borg Collective. As well as all Vulcans, all Andorians, all Tellarites, all Romulans, all Klingons, all...

Killed Off for Real: Owen Paris, Charivretha zh'Thane, T'Lana, Kopek, as well as the planets Deneva, Khitomer, Risa, and Coridan,among others.

Last Request: President Bacco tells her assistant to have the kitchen whip up the finest meals they can and have as many officials and staffers as possible attend a final banquet before the Borg reach Earth. She decides that if this is the end of the Federation, then by God they're going to go out with heads held high.

Mind Rape: The Borg respond to Hernandez's attempts to hack the collective by corrupting her favourite childhood memories. It's basically the psychic equivalent of a "scorched earth" campaign, leaving her nowhere to retreat to while facing the nightmare of the collective mind.

Or not.Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations explicitly says that in the long run, if the Borg hadn't invaded (and subsequently been defeated) at that point in history, nothing could have stopped them from conquering the entire galaxy by the year 2600 at the latest.

Not So Different: A key plot point of the trilogy's climax. Hernandez and Dax realize that there are too many similarities between the Borg and the Caeilar to be chalked up to mere coincidence.

Plot Armor: Out of the potentially thousands of ships rallied against the Borg in the Azure Nebula, only Voyager survives. Barely, though.

Poisonous Person: The Chelons' natural poison defenses come into play at one point (having been established in Star Trek: Vanguard). A Hirogen hunter is quite embarrassed to find himself defeated by a dead man, having released the toxin while killing a Chelon crewman.

Pyrrhic Victory: The Borg war, pretty much. Yes, the Federation won, the Collective was liberated, the darkness has been lifted, there is peace, but Deneva, Risa, Coridan and several other major worlds are gone, many other major worlds are damaged, and 70 Billion people are dead. There isn't any mood to celebrate.

"Blood shed for a friend is sacred, a debt of honor. And if you won’t stand and fight beside a friend in blood, then you are not a Klingon. You are not a warrior. Run home to your beds and hide, I have no use for you! I won’t die in the company of such petaQ’pu. The sons of our sons will sing of these battles. Time will erase our sins and fade our scars, but our names will live on in songs of honor. The Borg are coming, my brothers. Stand and fight beside me now, and let us make warriors born in ages to come curse Fek’lhr that they were not here to SHARE OUR GLORY!”

Took a Level in Badass: Ezri Dax. In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine television series, Ezri was an extremely awkward, timid, and self-conscious character, to the point where Elim Garak once gave her a classic "The Reason You Suck" Speech, informing her that the reason why everyone had preferred Jadzia Dax, her symbiote's previous host, was because Ezri was a complete wimp, and Jadzia wasn't. By the end of these three books, however, nobody is still comparing Ezri unfavourably with Jadzia.

Throw-Away Country: Not that anybody really cares about Acamar or Barolia mind you. Averted later on in the series by having some important planets get destroyed as well.

Timey-Wimey Ball: So the Columbia meets with the Caeliar in the twenty-second century. When Erigol is destroyed, portals are created going to different times and places. Captain Hernandez ends up in a distant part of the alpha quadrant, 800 years earlier. Another city-ship is sent to a far corner of the universe, near the beginning of time (eventually causing the catastrophe which destroyed Erigol in the first place). A third goes back in time to the delta quadrant seven thousand years earlier, where they give rise to the Borg...are you taking notes?

Was Once a Man: The Borg collective itself, based on a synthesis of the worst aspects of a Caeliar and her Human victims

Wham Episode: By the end of this trilogy 40% of Starfleet has been destroyed, 70 billion people are dead, and the Borg are gone.

What the Hell, Hero?: La Forge gives Captain Picard a speech of this kind for planning to annihilate the Borg with a Weapon of Mass Destruction rather than considering Hernandez's approach. Indeed, a Weapon of Mass Destruction that Picard has always condemned, which if used would have the Klingons and Romulans up in arms (quite justifiably) and which Picard's crew and friends fought - in some cases to the death - to prevent being used elsewhere. Most importantly, Picard's approach wouldn't have worked anyway. He had totally given up, and was fixated on a "go down shooting!" apocalyptic mindset whereas Hernandez, Dax and Riker were legitimately trying to put a stop to the destruction.

On a lesser note, Inyx gives Dr. Ree a telling off when he bites Deanna Troi as part of his efforts to care for her. Inyx's Actual Pacifist ways clash with the carnivorous ethos of Ree's people.

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